"My husband decided to do a family day, and he chose this place and it's amazing," said Baker.

The Animals of Fossil Rim

Visitors can explore 17,000 acres of open space and see animals in their "near" natural environment.

"We are all about conservation and recycling, and taking care of the world we live in," said Laura Groome, Director of Human Resources at Fossil Rim.

Donate Crocs For a Good Cause

When you're Crocs wear out or your cell phone dies, you can donate them to a good cause at Fossil Rim. (Published Friday, May 15, 2009)

While driving through the park, you can get up close and personal with the giraffe, zebra, addax, and greater kudu.
The park even has cheetah, along with white and black rhinos -- and that's just naming a few of the animals you can check out.

In addition to its commitment to wildlife conservation, Fossil Rim also offers two recycling programs the public can participate in.

"People can recycle their cell phones without throwing them in the trash or putting them in the landfill," said Dana Zauf, manager of finance and administration for Fossil Rim.

Collection boxes are set up at the gift shop and the park's front entrance.

"Some of the cell phones that are reusable are programmed for emergency calls and given to those in need," said Zauf.

The older phones and batteries are recycled into new phones and batteries.

You can also recycle your personal game systems; and the park even takes your old Crocs. Yes, those slip-on shoes you either love or hate.

"We are the only (Crocs) collector within a 100-mile radius of Dallas and Fort Worth," said Groome.

Fossil Rim collects the shoes and ships them back to the company.

"What they do is take the Crocs, grind them up and reform new Crocs and ship them overseas to countries that need shoes," said Groome.

The program is known as Soles United and was established by the Crocs company.

The park and its recycling programs sit well with its guests.

"Just the simple fact we are out here in nature, you can really see why it is important to do the things that we do to keep the Earth throbbing," said Baker.

Fossil Rim is also running a special just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. If you bring in one to nine cell phones you can get a discount off park admission. If you bring in more than 10 the discount gets even better. Just click here for more information.

Published at 4:12 PM CDT on May 15, 2009 | Updated at 6:51 PM CDT on May 15, 2009